A la carte cover
1989BGG rank #2,913

A la carte

by Karl-Heinz Schmiel · Heidelberger Spieleverlag

Browsing is free. Ask BoardGameBrain about this game when rules coverage is ready.

Players2–4
Time30m
ComplexityLight
Age8+

About the game

What is A la carte?

In one of his sillier games, Karl-Heinz Schmiel casts the players as semi-psychotic cooks attempting to hone their culinary skills. Each player receives a miniature pan and a hotplate. Then each turn you can either attempt to turn up the heat, season your dish, or attempt to steal another cook's recipe in the making. Heating your hotplate is a random affair with a die, and could raise the heat on everyone's plate. Spicing the dish is heart of the game and done by up-ending small bottles filled with little colored wood pellets. When the pellets tumble out of the bottle (sometimes, if they do), the number of pellets can't exceed two, because over-spicing the dish ruins it and you have to throw it in the trash! The 2009 version includes some changed rules, a new victory condition, additional recipes and some new mechanics in comparison to the 1989 version.

How it plays

Mechanics

Action PointsDice RollingSet Collection

On the shelf

Categories

Action / Dexterity

Questions players ask

Questions to bring to BoardGameBrain

  • How do setup and the first turn work in A la carte?
  • When does scoring happen and what ends the game?
  • How should the table resolve an unusual timing or rules interaction?